Meanings
- UKslanguncountableSexual activity in a public lavatory, especially homosexual activity between men.
Most homosexuals have at some periods in their lives been out 'trolling' and many of them admitted to 'cottaging' in their earlier days, especially those who lived outside London where this practice seems to be much more widely established.
1960, Gordon Westwood, A Minority: A Report on the Life of the Male Homosexual in Great Britain, London: Longmans, →OCLC, page 761 more example
"MSM," a term that is reportedly English social-work jargon for "men seeking sex with men," explores the reasons why men, including heterosexuals, cruise in English lavatories, which are, believe it or not, called "cottages." The text is made up of actual interviews with those who go "cottaging."
1993 October 6, Anna Kisselgoff, “Upstart and Formal Styles in Montreal”, in The New York Times, page C14 - uncountableA seasonal activity involving a prolonged stay at one or more cottages; similar to visiting, but typically for a longer duration and at a seasonal home that one owns or rents.
This comparison between the commercial cottager and the private cottager begins to give us an insight into differences between the private cottager and the commercial cottager, a difference that has implications for the relation of cottaging to city life.
2004, C. Michael Hall, Dieter K. Muller, Tourism, Mobility and Second Homes, page 69
Cite this entry
cottaging. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cottaging
“cottaging.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cottaging. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cottaging,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cottaging.
Source: cottaging on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.